Oct. 21, 2013

Packers cornerback Casey Hayward stretches before the game against the 49ers on Sept. 8. / File/Press-Gazette Media

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The one area where the Green Bay Packers are not hurting at the moment is in a secondary that seems to be nearing the return of second-year cornerback Casey Hayward.

Hayward sat out of Sunday’s 31-13 win over Cleveland, but practiced all three days last week and doesn’t appear to have suffered any setbacks from the hamstring injury that’s plagued him for the past three months.

A defensive rookie of the year candidate in 2012, Hayward missed the first month of camp with the flare-up before suffering an aggravation during an Aug. 23 preseason game against Seattle in which he lasted only 10 plays.

“He hasn’t played for a long time now,” Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers said. “He’s practiced some these last couple weeks but I don’t know that he’s opened it up full go out there. Hopefully, he’s closer. We’ll see how he practices this week. You have to play the game.

“You have to be out there and you have to play the game because no matter you work on the sideline and that type of thing, it’s a different deal when you’re out there and the bullets are flying.”

Upon Hayward’s return, the Packers will have to determine where all the pieces fit considering how Davon House and Micah Hyde have played during the early stretch of the season.

They ushered in even more questions about their secondary on Sunday when they supplanted Jerron McMillian with Hyde as their dime cornerback and began rotating undrafted rookie Chris Banjo with M.D. Jennings at safety in the second half.

Banjo, who started one game in place of an injured Morgan Burnett last month, played 25 snaps with one tackle and one pass deflection while Jennings had one of his lightest workloads in recent memory (47 snaps).

Jennings has started 16 consecutive games at safety for the Packers with 67 tackles, but only two pass deflections, one sack and one interception. In six limited appearances, Banjo already has two pass break-ups this season.

Neither player said they were aware of any intention to play Banjo on Sunday, but Capers said it was a part of the game plan.

“Going in, we wanted to try to get him on the field and get him some snaps,” Capers said. “He’s done a nice job. The week before, I think he might have gotten special-teams player (of the week for the Packers). If a guy will mix it up and he’s a tough guy, you want to get him out there and try to see how he does.”

The Packers have utilized nearly every combination of Sam Shields, Tramon Williams, House and Hyde during the six weeks Hayward hasn’t played, which begs the question of how they’ll handle things once he is back in the lineup.

“I don’t think the decisions are all that tough,” said Packers cornerbacks coach Joe Whitt. “We’re going to go out there with the guys that we feel, as a coaching staff, are going to give us the best chance to win and everybody understands that. This is not a popularity contest or anything like that – we’re trying to win football games and we’re trying to play a high level of defense.”